Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Ohio Gov. Kasich’s Office Helped Create Abortion Restrictions

The legislation required clinics where abortions are performed to have emergency-transfer protocol with nearby hospitals, among other measures. Elsewhere, a conservative group questions Carly Fiorina's credentials, the Democratic presidential frontrunners spar on health care taxes and divisions appear within the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

The Associated Press:
Kasich Aides Helped Craft Abortion Restrictions
Believing state legislators were solely responsible for abortion restrictions added to the 2013 budget bill, activists and editorialists across Ohio called on Gov. John Kasich to veto the provisions. What they didn't know at the time was that Kasich's office had a hand in developing some of the language. Among other things, the provisions required abortion clinics to have emergency-transfer agreements with hospitals, prevented public hospitals from joining those agreements and strengthened the state health director's authority to refuse exceptions. The combination contributed to clinic closures or near-closures in several cities. (11/18)

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:
Club For Growth, Long An Establishment Gadfly, Takes Aim At Outsider Carly Fiorina
The conservative Club for Growth is casting doubt on another Republican presidential contender with less experience in elected office than many of her rivals. ... The group plans to release a research paper Thursday that questions Mrs. Fiorina’s commitment to the small-government, free-market policies the group advocates. The Club has raised similar doubts about businessman Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. The seven-page research document calls attention to Mrs. Fiorina’s past support for tax breaks for specific industries, inconsistent positions on spending issues, and general lack of specificity in how she would reform Medicare and Social Security. (O'Connor, 11/18)

The Wall Street Journal:
Clinton And Sanders Escalate Sniping On Health-Care Taxes
Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders for months have warily circled one another, contrasting their policy ideas in mostly gentle terms. No more. This week, Mrs. Clinton, the front-runner, unloaded on the Vermont senator, charging that Mr. Sanders would raise taxes on the middle class to pay for his single-payer health-care plan that would have the government replace private insurance companies to pay claims. (Meckler, 11/18)

The New York Times:
Reviews Reveal Divisions Within The Clinton Health Initiative, Starting At The Top
Its chief executive, Ira C. Magaziner, who is admired as a brilliant, farsighted leader, has long alienated co-workers at the Clinton Foundation. But a harsh new set of complaints about Mr. Magaziner were captured this year in a performance review, with most of the grievances coming from the board of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, or CHAI, of which Chelsea Clinton is a member. The review said Mr. Magaziner had shown “disdain” for the health initiative’s board, exhibited “duplicitousness with management” and displayed a “lack of transparency” and “dismissive behavior” toward Clinton family members. (Haberman, 11/18)

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